Faial

Faial is a small picturesque village located on the northeastern coast of the Island named after a local tree known as faia ‘myrica faya’. Settlers first colonized Faial around 1519 and were mostly Moorish & Gallician. During the first settlement when the sugar plantation was at its peak, water mills were built in the rivers of Ribeira do Faial and Ribeira Seca to crush sugar cane and today ruins may still be seen under the bridge.
Faial was also known for its bridges, the largest being 130 metres and known as Ponte das Sete Bocas (bridge of the seven mouths) but unfortunately in 1984 the bridge collapsed during a severe storm.

Faial’s main industry is agriculture; the best example is perhaps the anona ‘Cherimoya’ fruit. It’s the most common produced and to promote it, in 1990, an exhibition took place that has now become a big event famously known as Festa da Anona, every year in March.